It’s funny.  I watch the news and I see kids committing suicide over posts on FaceBook and words typed in black and white on a screen and I use to think, ‘You do not know the emotion behind them nor the intention in the post, so just take a deep breath and shake it off’.

But now I am under attack.  And I have to say…  it seriously sucks.  And I am a 38 year old, educated, intelligent woman.  But words on a computer screen attacking the very core of my being hurts worse than I could have ever imagined.

Just as no one can make everyone happy in real life, the thought that one can make everyone happy in social media is preposterous.  In fact… it seems easier to offend, deflate, and attack someone on a computer.  With no accountability for watching someone’s facial reactions or listening to the dejection in their voice, people type and expect that there is some sort of filter that will protect their rights.

I miss polite society.  I miss conversations about unhappiness instead of 3 sentence updates.  And I miss that when people wanted to see you – they SAW you – and did not rely on a website to tell someone everything about that person and their lives.

When you visit, face to face, you learn about everything a person is dealing with.  And the things that annoy you about that person may be understood better if you took the time to see why they are that way.  How is that even remotely possible when only friends with someone and one aspect of their life… like their FaceBook page?

I now feel for the kids, with less emotional control and understanding that people’s opinions on a computer does not translate to who they are as a person.  I see how they could take a post and internalize it until it becomes their whole belief in who they are.

Just as my feelings are hurt at the misunderstanding of my intentions and desires in my life, they are hurt at the blatant disrespect of theirs.

I feel for our kids these days.  They are in a world where their lives are explained one status update or tweet at a time.  A keypad on a phone, computer, or a video on YouTube being the basic definition of who they are supposed to be.  And the delete button not being used generously enough.

As I sit here in tears taking every lash that I suppose, in some way, I deserve… for not making everyone happy all of the time…  I know that a person with less coping capacities  would be thinking of drastic measures.

And I am sorry that our kids have this in their lives to deal with, too.

I really am.